1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system including an exchange and one or a plurality of telephones and one or a plurality of computers that are connected to the exchange by a telephone circuit network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, because of the development of computers and computer networks, the CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) technology that unites a telephone network and a computer network has made a great advance.
For example, the CSTA (Computer Supported Telecommunications Application) of ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association) is a well-known example of the CTI technology. The CSTA is provisions corresponding to the application layer of an OSI (open systems interconnection) reference model between a telephone network and a computer network.
On the other hand, in recent years, because of the spread of cellular telephones and other factors, the radio communications technology has also made great progress. As for the radio communications, not only the voice communication technology but also the data communication technology has advanced. And the technology to provide an easy-to-use environment to a user at an arbitrary location as also advanced. An example of the technology to provide an easy-to-use environment to a user is an exchange system that utilizes a scheme in which a user can respond to a call with a nearby extension telephone by utilizing a cordless paging-only child machine (refer to Japanese Unexamined UM Publication No. Hei. 5-88079, for example).
This conventional exchange system will be described below with reference to FIG. 54, which is a block diagram showing its configuration.
As shown in FIG. 54, a base station 3302 is connected to an exchange 3301. A paging-only child machine 3303 performs a radio communication with the base station 3302, and is capable of making a communication by faint radio waves. An extension telephone 3304 is connected to the exchange 3301 and communicates with the paging-only child machine 3303 by faint radio waves.
Reference numeral 3305 denotes a communication channel between the exchange 3301 and the base station 3302. Reference numeral 3306 denotes a radio communication channel between the base station 3302 and the paging-only child machine 3303. Reference numeral 3307 denotes a communication channel by faint radio waves between the paging-only child machine 3303 and the extension telephone 3304. Reference numeral 3308 denotes a communication channel between the exchange 3301 and the extension telephone 3304.
The operation of the above conventional exchange system will be described below.
In the conventional exchange system, when a call arrives at the paging-only child machine 3303, a call-responsive signal is sent from the paging-only child machine 3303 to the extension telephone 3304 via the communication channel 3307 by faint radio waves. The extension telephone 3304 sends a transfer request to the exchange 3301 in accordance with the received call-responsive signal.
The exchange 3301 performs a control of converting the call to the paging-only child machine 3303 to a call to the extension telephone 3304 in accordance with the transfer request.
However, in the above exchange system based on the conventional radio communications technology, a simple process is executed in which the extension telephone 3304 is informed of call reception by the paging-only child machine 3303 and then sends a transfer request to the exchange 3301. The exchange system executes only telephone-related processes and no means are provided that enables a communication between the exchange 3301 and a computer. There are problems that it is impossible to cause a computer to display the telephone number of a caller, and that it is impossible to cause a computer, rather than the extension telephone 3304, to respond to a call. In particular, at present, because of the spread of various kinds of communication other than voice communication, such as data communication and image communication, a technique that allows a computer to respond to a call received by a cellular telephone is necessary. It is problematic that no means for allowing a communication between an exchange and a computer is available in the prior art.
The conventional CTI technology has a problem that the correspondence between telephones and computers are predetermined and no consideration is given to a scheme in which the user of a cellular telephone controls the cellular telephone from an arbitrary computer. That is, no combination of conventional techniques enables the user of a cellular telephone to have an arbitrary computer display the telephone number of a caller or have it respond to a call.
With the advancement of the CTI technology, a technique of performing a communication control between computers in accordance with a circuit switching state rather than simply controlling circuit switching by a computer, as exemplified by the technical concept disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei. 8-321889. This publication describes a method of setting a shared working space in doing a voice communication by telephone to perform cooperative work by using computers.
The above conventional communication system will be described below with reference to FIG. 55, which is a block diagram showing its configuration.
In FIG. 55, reference numeral 6201 denotes a wide area network; 6202, a local area network; 6203, a first server; 6204, a first router; 6205, a first computer; 6206, an exchange; and 6207, a first telephone connected to the exchange 6206. Reference numeral 6208 denotes a local area network; 6209, a second server; 6210, a second router; 6211, a second computer; and 6212, a second telephone. That is, the conventional communication system is configured in such a manner that the computers, the servers, and the routers are connected to the local area networks and the routers allow the computers and the servers to communicate with each other via the wide area network.
The operation of the above conventional communication system will be described with reference to FIG. 56.
In the conventional communication system, at step 6301, when receiving a request for connecting the first telephone 6207 and the second telephone 6212, the exchange 6206 connects the first telephone 6207 and the second telephone 6212 to each other.
Then, at step 6302, the exchange 6206 informs the first server 6203 that it has connected the first telephone 6207 and the second telephone 6212 to each other.
The first server 6203 holds a corresponding relationship between the telephones and the computers. Therefore, upon reception of the notice of the connection between the first telephone 6207 and the second telephone 6212 from the exchange 6206, at step 6303 the first server 6203 associates the first telephone 6207 and the second telephone 6212 with the addresses of the corresponding computers.
Then, at step 6304, the first server 6203 executes a process of starting a session between the first computer 6205 and the second computer 6211. As a result, a shared working space for cooperative work of the users of the first telephone 6207 and the second telephone 6212 is provided on the screens of the first computer 6205 and the second computer 6211.
However, in the conventional communication system disclosed in the publication No. Hei. 8-321889, since a server starts a session between computers, the load on the server increases as the number of sessions increases. Further, since a server starts a session, to add a new function, for example, a function of enabling an image communication between computers, it is necessary to add a new sever function. This means a problem that the system extendability is low.
Further, in the technical concept of the publication No. Hei. 8-321889, a session between computers is started merely based on call control information sent from an exchange. For example, this publication does not refer to a computer-to-computer communication control scheme to be employed in a case where the start timing of a communication between computers is irrelevant to a telephone call control, for example, in a case where the user of a computer determines the start of a communication between computers after a connection is established between telephones. In addition to the function that the user can start, of his own free will, a communication between computers after establishment of a voice communication, the function that when a trouble occurs in a communication between computers, a communication between those. computers can be restarted automatically if a telephone connection is established is very important in computer networks that are generally less reliable than telephone networks. That is, there is a problem that the function of merely starting a session between computers based on call control information sent from an exchange is insufficient for computer-to-computer communication controls.
In view of the above problems in the art, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system using a cellular telephone which enables an arbitrary computer to respond to a call or display information relating to a received call and which enables not only voice communication but also data communication and image communication.
Another object of the invention is to provide a communication system in which the server load is decreased because a session between computers is started by those computers, it is not necessary to add a new server function in adding a new function such as a function of enabling an image communication, and a session between computers can be established with no link to a telephone call control.
The invention provides a communication system comprising an exchange; N telephones connected to the exchange via a telephone circuit network, where N is an integer; and M computers connected to the exchange at least via the telephone circuit network, where M is an integer, wherein a first telephone that is one of the N telephones is correlated with a first computer that is one of the M computers; the first telephone sends the first computer a first call reception state report indicating a call reception state of the first telephone via a first route; the first computer, when receiving the first call reception state report, sends the exchange a prescribed telephone circuit control instruction for a call directed to the first telephone; and the exchange, when receiving the prescribed telephone circuit control instruction, performs a telephone circuit control for the call directed to the first telephone according to the prescribed telephone circuit control instruction.
The prescribed telephone circuit control instruction may be a reception call conversion request for requesting conversion of the call directed to the first telephone to a call to the first computer.
The communication system may be configured in such a manner that the first telephone comprises telephone faint radio wave communication means for performing a communication by faint radio waves, that the first computer comprises computer faint radio wave communication means for performing a communication by faint radio waves, and that the first route is formed by the telephone faint radio wave communication means and the computer faint radio wave communication means.
The first telephone may be a cellular telephone that is connected to the telephone circuit network by a radio communication.
The cellular telephone may comprise a main body having a cellular telephone user interface for performing display, and a wrist band for mounting the main body on a wrist, the wrist band being mounted with cellular telephone faint radio wave communication means for communicating with the first computer by faint radio waves. The cellular telephone faint radio wave communication means may be located on the side of the palm of a hand when the wrist band of the cellular telephone is mounted around the wrist like a wrist watch. The telephone faint radio wave communication means may be provided in a handset of the fixed telephone.
The communication system may be configured as follows. A second telephone that is one of the N telephones and different from the first telephone is correlated with a second computer that is one of the M computers and different from the first computer; and the exchange sends out a first circuit state report relating to circuit switching between the first telephone and the second telephone. The communication system further comprises circuit state reporting means for receiving the first circuit state report, and for sending the first computer a second circuit state report formed by adding an address of the second computer to the first circuit state report; and a data communication network for enabling a data communication at least between the first computer and the second computer among the M computers. The first computer starts, when receiving the second circuit state report, a data communication with the second computer via the data communication network by using the address of the second computer that is accommodated in the second circuit state report.
The communication system may be configured as follows. There exist a third telephone that is one of the N telephones and different from the first telephone and a third computer that is one of the M computers and different from the first computer; the third computer sends the exchange a state report request that accommodates a telephone number of the third telephone; and the exchange sends out, when receiving the state report request, a third circuit state report for the first telephone and the third telephone in a state that the first telephone and the third telephone are in a circuit-connected state. The communication system further comprises circuit state reporting means for receiving the third circuit state report, and for sending the third computer a fourth circuit state report formed by adding an address of the first computer to the third circuit state report; and a data communication network for enabling a data communication at least between the first and third computers among the M computers. The third computer starts, when receiving the fourth circuit state report, a data communication with the first computer via the data communication network by using the address of the first computer that is accommodated in the fourth circuit state report. A typical operation mode is such that a voice communication is performed between the first telephone and third telephone while a video communication is performed between the first computer and third computer.
The communication system may be configured in such a manner that the third computer comprises a telephone faint radio wave communication means for performing a communication by faint radio waves, that the third computer comprises a computer faint radio wave communication means for performing a communication by faint radio waves, and that the third telephone informs the third computer of the telephone number of the third telephone via a route formed by the telephone faint radio wave communication means and the computer faint radio wave communication means.
The communication system may be configured as follows. The communication system further comprises an office apparatus having an office apparatus faint radio wave communication means for performing a communication by faint radio waves. There exist a fourth telephone that is one of the N telephones and different from the first telephone and a fourth computer that is one of the M computers and different from the first computer; the fourth telephone comprises a telephone faint radio wave communication means for performing a communication by faint radio waves; the office apparatus performs an information data communication with the fourth telephone via a route formed by the telephone faint radio wave communication means and the office apparatus faint radio wave communication means; and the fourth telephone performs an information data communication with the fourth computer, whereby an information data communication is performed between the office apparatus and the fourth computer.